Double Vision: The Strategic Planning Process for Gleichen’s Desired Future
by Erin Storch
Over thirty community stakeholders joined together around tables in Gunners Restaurant, Monday evening, to continue an engaging and critical process of visioning a positive future for Gleichen. The gathering was facilitated by Alberta Community Development Lead Facilitator Alan Pryor. We spent nearly four and a half hours together and shared a tasty meal prepared by Tammy Hoff (excellent lemon-raspberry biscuits and cream, Tammy), with very encouraging results.
This meeting was the second half of a dynamic re-visioning process for the community, organized by the Gleichen Ag Society. During the first installment, which took place on March 22nd, 24 community members from Gleichen and surrounding area gathered to generate ideas for the hamlet’s renewal and improvement. Discussion included: ideas for development and programming of a new Recreation Facility; needs for internal communication; hopes for cultural development and tourism; and goals for general community revitalisation.
The process for the second meeting began with the following focus questions:
- What will Gleichen look like in three years’ time?
- Who will be living here and what will they be doing?
Alan Pryor started us off with the anecdote of dandelion removal: the impatient gardener can pull off the yellow head only to have another pop up the next day. He encouraged us to fire up our imaginations and dig to the root of obstacles to our preferred future. The process he led us through provided both fuel and direction for change. It was surprising and encouraging, as a townsperson, to note that there was an equal number of concerned community members from out of town. There were a variety of people present – many from surrounding farms, as well as town folks who’ve lived in Gleichen for many years, and people who’ve newly relocated to Gleichen from Calgary, Okotoks, and beyond. There was definite consensus that it is time for us to focus on the positives of our community, stop tire-kicking, and start “being the change we want to see.”
The evening passed quickly as we delved into the process of Visioning and Strategic Planning. We spent time individually brainstorming, then sharing and refining ideas in small groups, starting with perceived obstacles to the healthy community we desire. Alan encouraged us to ask each other why each item was a concern, and to continue asking three or four times, to try and discover root causes rather than hasty or superficial judgements. We transferred these onto yellow cards and posted them on the front wall, then sorted them into categories. Next, we applied the same process to brainstorming solutions, shared individual ideas in small groups, and wrote them onto pink cards to be posted at the front, before working as a whole group to arrange them into related themes.
Some common themes were: generating awareness and community spirit; encouraging active participation; zoning and bylaw enforcement; need for effective promotion and communication; cooperation among stakeholders including the County and Siksika Nation; mobilizing special interest committees; attracting business, industry, and high-speed internet; reviving the downtown; clean-up and beautification; historical tourism and cultural development; and building a new recreation facility to offer diverse programming and serve as a hub for the community.
Ultimately, we arranged our ideas into three over-arching issues, each accompanied by a statement of vision:
- Community Spirit, Identity, and Volunteerism: becoming united;
- Local Governance: becoming organized and empowered; and
- Recreation Development and Programming: to become a thriving and attractive community.
To wrap up the visioning meeting, Alan reminded the group of “STP’s” or Same Ten People syndrome – the typical turn-out whenever volunteers or committee members are needed. People clustered at the front, each adding their name to at least one community initiative as a concrete step towards creating the Gleichen we want for our future. Ken Sauve, Gleichen’s representative at the Wheatland County Council, also welcomed the community’s questions and concerns.
Highlighting the Positive
Before the April 26th meeting began, I jotted down some of the things I consider as positive services and qualities Gleichen has to offer. Here are a few:
- cost of living (from a low-cost lot on which to build to highly-affordable alternatives to expensive city housing)
- Central Bow Valley School (K-12) and Sequoia Outreach School
- Gleichen Medical Centre – a clinic (that actually accepts patients!) with three physicians, an optometrist, a dentist, and physiotherapy
- Family Foods grocery store with take-out food, movie rentals, and miscellany
- various independent businesses, from travel services to trades persons
- arena with skating rink, curling ice, and Gunners Family Restaurant
- Canada Post office
- Race Trac Gas – tire service and tools
- Library – member of Marigold Library System
- Alberta Treasury Branch
- Communities in Bloom
- Gleichen Lions Club
- G&C Community Centre
- Gleichen-Cluny Mums ‘n Tots Play Group
- Volunteer Fire Department
- RCMP station
- Greyhound bus stop
- three community churches
- Gleichen and District Agricultural Society – Arena & Curling Club, Fall Fair and Rodeo
- park with swings, slide, monkey bars, and mature trees
Gleichen has potential as a home for telecommuters and city workers alike. Just off the Trans-Canada highway, Gleichen is a mere thirty minutes from Strathmore, a larger, full-service centre . One hour’s drive will get you to Calgary, Brooks, or Drumheller, and it’s just under two hours to Lethbridge or Medicine Hat. There are many other small communities within about a half-hour drive (Bassano, Standard, Rosebud, Hussar, Rockyford, Arrowwood, and Cluny).
Gleichen is a good place to start a business, raise a family, or find peace and quiet – no traffic, just the occasional semi-truck engine and the CPR trains. You can see the stars at night; there are no skyscrapers to block the sunset (or the wind, haha). No smog, just the occasional dust devil. Our iconic water tower is legendary, located near the small camp ground near the highway. If you’re handy and interested in fixing up an older home, there are many opportunities with prices anywhere from $40,000 to $130,000. For landscapers and gardeners, there are several nurseries and greenhouses nearby. Attend just one town meeting or community clean-up and you can meet plenty of people who are interested in and care about the community. Walk around town and soon you’ll be able to name many of the families living in the houses; you can feel safe and comfortable on a morning stroll or afternoon bike ride. Best of all, you’re surrounded by golden prairie and blue sky.
My Personal Take
This writer is a relative newcomer to Gleichen. I grew up in a town about an hour from here, but had never visited or heard much about Gleichen, except for some tired stereotypes which seriously underestimate how much this little community has to offer. At one time, Gleichen was more vibrant than Calgary and boasted a population of over 1,000 people in the Roaring Twenties. My partner and I moved to Gleichen after living in Camrose and then Ottawa. As a young couple looking forward to careers and family, coming here was a relief from the expensive, hectic pace of the capital city. While I’m away at university, my partner is developing a community-based business with mostly Calgary clientele. We couldn’t afford to live in a big centre, and frankly, we don’t care to. It’s quiet and sunny here, most folks are friendly, and there’s plenty of space and fresh air to go around.
Like the troubadour rooster in Robin Hood sings, “Every town has its ups and downs.” But for someone interested in investing personally in community, cultivating neighbourly relationships, fostering shared spaces, and partaking in community events, I feel that I can make a difference here. Individuals have the opportunity to be positive agents of community in a way that might be overwhelming in a big city. This is as good a place as any to “Think global, act local.”
There’s plenty of opportunity for growth and transformation in Gleichen. Caring community members are working towards a Gleichen that is family-friendly, proud, and progressive. All are invited to roll up their sleeves and help Gleichen to “spring clean” (starting with our Communities in Bloom town clean-up, May 6th). We are planting seeds to grow in fresh directions, so that all of us – established community members who’ve lived here for generations, new families, and young people yet to come – can enjoy the fruits of Community.
Make note:
May 6th is Communities in Bloom Town clean-up. “Pitch in, pick up!” with hot dog lunch graciously donated and served up by Sheldon and Naomi Carl of Sheldon’s Plumbing.
May 13th (in time to take your mother, wife, sister, or daughter for tea and pick up a cheap gift) is the Strawberry Tea at Dianne’s Country Farmhouse and the Community Garage Sale at the Arena.
